february 2014 newspaper ¡SE PERIÓDICO DE NEGRO Y ROSADO AHORA DISPONIBLE EN ESPAÑOL! / BLACK AND PINK NEWSPAPER NOW AVAILABLE IN SPANISH! La policia, los tribunales, y el sistema de prisiones en los Estados Unidos acosa a gente de color, particularmente a gente negra, latin@, arabe, o indígena. Casi 1 en 3 prisioneros hablan español como lengua materna. Queremos que nuestro periódico sea lo más disponible posible cualquiera persona quien quiera leerlo. Somos una familia más fuerte cuando más gente nos pueden entender. Por favor, avisen a todos sus amigos lesbiana, gay, bisexual, transgenero, o kuir/ queer que quisieran recibir un periódico en español que pueden escribir a: Black and Pink - Spanish Newspaper 614 Columbia Rd. Dorchester, MA 02125 The US police, court, and prison system targets people of color, particularly Black, Latin@, Arab, and Indigenous/ American Indian people. Nearly 1 in 3 prisoners’ first language is Spanish. We want our newspaper to be as available as possible to everyone who wants to read it. We are a stronger family when more people can understand us. Please tell all your Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and/or Queer friends who would like a newspaper in Spanish to write to: Black and Pink - Spanish Newspaper 614 Columbia Rd. Dorchester, MA 02125 FEDERAL APPEALS COURT: IT’S CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT TO DENY TRANSGENDER INMATES’ SURGERY A panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Friday in favor of Massachusetts transgender inmate Michelle Kosilek, affirming a lower court ruling that she deserves the sex reassignment surgery (SRS) her doctors have prescribed. The epic ruling details Kosilek’s 20-year struggle to obtain the proper treatment and the lengths that the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC) have gone to delay allowing her to receive it — a violation of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which forbids “cruel and unusual punishment.” The decision, itself, represents further delay, because the DOC appealed the lower court decision to again avoid allowing Kosilek to obtain the treatment that her doctors had deemed “medically necessary.” In their appeal, the DOC
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Art by B*S, Texas challenged two points made by the lower court: 1) that denying Kosilek sex reassignment surgery constituted unconstitutionally “inadequate medical care” and 2) that the DOC was not deliberately indifferent to her need for treatment. The majority, in an opinion written by Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson, an Obama appointee, rejected these two challenges. The only medical professionals who disagreed that Kosilek was deserving of SRS were those who the DOC sought out knowing that they would be biased against recommending such treatment. The fact that doctors could be found to provide such a conclusion was not enough to disprove what the rest of her doctors insisted, let alone the fact that Kosilek had already twice attempted suicide and once attempted self-castration... In defense of its second challenge, the DOC argued that it had significant security concerns relating to Kosilek both traveling to receive the surgery — that she might be a flight risk — and reintegrating into the prison — that she would either be a victim if she continued to serve in the men’s prison or a threat and a flight risk if she were placed into a women’s prison. The majority dismissed the first argument outright: The likelihood of Kosilek, who has been transported to multiple doctor’s appointments without issue, fleeing while traveling to receive the surgery that she has dedicated decades of her life to obtaining is improbable enough that we need say nothing more. Almost equally as unlikely is the idea that a now sixtyfour year old, post-surgical, recovering Kosilek would be able to escape when being transported back to prison. Continued on Page 5...